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As such, it is important to identify modifiable risk factors for early menopause, such as diet

Alexandra Purdue-Smithe

The findings are particularly important for women delaying motherhood into their late 30s and early 40s.

Epidemiologist Alexandra Purdue-Smithe, a doctoral candidate at Massachusetts University, said: "In addition to placing women at higher risk of adverse future health outcomes, early menopause is also problematic as women are increasingly delaying childbearing into their later reproductive years.

"Fertility declines drastically during the 10 years leading up to menopause, so early menopause can have profound psychological and financial implications for couples who are unable to conceive as they wish.

"As such, it is important to identify modifiable risk factors for early menopause, such as diet."

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Salmon can help to prevent going through the change before the age of 45

People get most of their Vitamin D from the sun but other foods rich in it include dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, cereals, beef liver, cheese and egg yolks. Calcium is also found in spinach, kale and beans.

"However, to our knowledge, no prior epidemiologic studies have explicitly evaluated how vitamin D and calcium intake may be related to risk of early menopause.

"We found after adjusting for a variety of different factors, vitamin D from food sources, such as fortified dairy and fatty fish, was associated with a 17 per cent lower risk of early menopause when comparing the highest intake group to the lowest intake group."

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analysed data from a long-running health study of US nurses who were 25 to 42 in 1989 when they responded to the first questionnaire.

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Orange Juice is high in Vitamin D

Follow-up questionnaires then assessed their lifestyle and medical conditions every two years.

Diet was assessed five times over the 20-year study, allowing the researchers to capture changes in food and nutrient intake over time, said Ms Purdue-Smithe.

Participants contributed more than one million person-years of follow-up - during which time 2,041 women experienced early menopause.

High consumption of vitamin D and calcium from foods may simply act as a marker for better nutrition and overall health, said Ms Purdue-Smithe.

The researchers took into account other factors such as intake of vegetable protein and alcohol as well as BMI (body mass index) and smoking.

Ms Purdue-Smithe said: "The large size of this study allowed us to consider a variety of potential correlates of a healthy lifestyle that might explain our findings.

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